Containers of the type disclosed in NL1017159 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,640 are employed across the globe for the transport of freight goods, by land, sea and air. Global trade and distribution imbalances frequently necessitate the transport of empty containers from large consumption markets to regions of mass production and manufacture. In order to alleviate the cost of burden of transporting empty containers, collapsible containers have been developed. These containers can be folded when empty into a collapsed, or stowed condition in which they occupy significantly less volume than in their assembled state, thus allowing for more efficient transportation of the containers when empty.
Assembly and disassembly of collapsible containers must take place in a safe and reliable manner. Frequently, the size and weight of the container walls are such that heavy lifting equipment such as forklifts must be employed, complicating operation and increasing the burden of assembly/disassembly. Systems have been developed in which the self weight of large collapsible container walls can be balanced by biasing elements, to facilitate manual assembly and control. An example of such a system is disclosed in EP2036835. However, even with such biasing systems in place, it remains a requirement that an operator be inside the container in order to assemble the walls. This is undesirable form a health and safety point of view, as well as imposing an additional complication on the assembly process.